Chamber Domaine & Thomas Kemp
Biographie Chamber Domaine & Thomas Kemp
Chamber Domaine
is at the cutting edge of music making in the 21st century. Its excellence and dynamism have received widespread acclaim both in the United Kingdom and abroad.
Under its artistic director, Thomas Kemp, the ensemble has become renowned for its virtuosity and its ambitious and distinctive programming that range from the Baroque through to the Contemporary. Chamber Domaine focus on instrumental chamber music and song in programmes that illuminate the music of today with the music of three centuries: the ensemble brings passion and commitment to a diverse repertoire that makes music come alive whilst placing it into its cultural context.
The ensemble are committed to performing and recording contemporary music and give world premieres by leading composers including Judith Bingham at the City of London Festival, Piers Hellawell at the Cheltenham International Festival and Arvo Pärt at the Edinburgh Festival. The ensemble has a commission from the brilliant young composer, Matthew Sergeant for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad and a major work for soprano and chamber orchestra by Judith Bingham for her sixtieth birthday.
Chamber Domaine have a distinguished and highly acclaimed discography. Their recordings regularly receive five star reviews and have been picked as Editor’s Choice in Gramophone. A recent disc of music by Henryk Górecki received universal acclaim. Forthcoming recordings include a disc of world premiere recordings of Mark-Anthony Turnage, as well as recordings of Mahler and Barber. The ensemble recently recorded the all Mozart sound track to First Night – a film starring Richard E. Grant, which will be released on Sony Classics.
In addition to their recording activities, the ensemble has broadcast regularly on BBC Radio 3; ORF, Austria; SR, Sweden; and WNYC, New York.
Chamber Domaine has a busy schedule of concerts and consistently proves itself as one of the most dynamic and versatile ensembles of its kind.
Thomas Kemp
is rapidly developing a reputation as one of the finest and imaginative conductors of his generation. The Guardian recently commented: ‘an extraordinary event [...] with a fluency that came over brilliantly under the baton of Thomas Kemp’.
He read music at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge and studied violin and chamber music at the Royal Northern College of Music and has since enjoyed an international career as a chamber musician and concertmaster. From 2003-2007, he won the Swedish Academy Scholarship to study conducting at the Royal Conservatory in Stockholm with the legendary Jorma Panula and Alan Gilbert.
Thomas is Music Director of the highly acclaimed Chamber Domaine, which is at the forefront of British ensembles focusing on 20th and 21st century music. He made his conducting debut in a series of concerts celebrating Sigmund Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams at the Victoria and Albert Museum, which The Financial Times described as ‘exceptional musical events’. He is also Artistic Director of Music@Malling – an international festival that promotes contemporary composers alongside masterworks from classical and romantic periods; in 2011 the festival featured Mark-Anthony Turnage alongside works by Mahler and Mozart.
Recent conducting projects have included the Pori Sinfonietta; Gavle Symphony; Swedish Chamber Orchestra; Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Hebrides Ensemble; Chamber Domaine; and I Pomeriggi. Forthcoming conducting engagements include concerts at Kings Place; Wigmore Hall; guest conducting engagements in the UK, USA, Finland and Sweden; and world premiere recordings of Schoenberg and Barber with Chamber Domaine. Thomas will make his operatic debut in 2012 for Opera Holland Park. Thomas is an award winning recording artist and has recorded for ASV, Blackbox and Landor. He recently made his recording debut as a conductor with world premiere recordings of Henryk Górecki for Landor. He is also conducting a series of recordings for the world’s first solely digital classical record label Resonus Classics.
He has also performed at many leading festivals in the UK and overseas and has broadcast regularly around the world. He is a guest artist at Bargemusic, New York and, since his debut in 2000, has been a regular at Wigmore Hall, South Bank Centre and Carnegie Hall, New York. In 2009, Thomas worked closely with the Turner Prize winning artist Anish Kapoor for the Brighton Festival to great acclaim. He teaches as the Royal Northern College of Music and has given masterclasses worldwide.
